Wheel of Catastrophe
by scrittore18
Summary: Sinead just wanted to be off the Ferris wheel and back onto solid ground. What had she been thinking anyways, climbing in this blasted thing? Maybe she could rig something up...Jonah however, has another idea entirely. Jonead. (Writing challenge inside!)


**A/N: This might possibly be the most cliché thing I've written….also, I did research on the Ferris wheel named below and changed some of its details for the sake of the story (e.g. it having windows, distance apart from other cars.).**

 **A writing challenge is at the end of the story!**

* * *

"I don't know…" Sinead eyed the towering Ferris wheel, unsure of its stability. "Isn't this thing really old?"

Beside her, the attendant bristled, apparently overhearing her comment. In an offended tone, the short, British man replied, "It was constructed in the year 2000 by some of London's finest architects."

"I see," Sinead cut him off, not wanting to hear a lecture.

But the man went on, his voice growing tighter by the second, "The London Eye is _also_ made out of the finest material, supplied in fact by six other countries, including—"

"I said I _see,_ " Sinead repeated, only to catch Ted's sharp gaze.

The Ekaterina ignored the look though. If her brother was so interested, he could ask his own questions or look it up later.

Sinead, her boyfriend Jonah Wizard, her triplet brothers, the Cahill duo (along with Nellie), and the Holts were all on vacation, being hosted by Ian and Natalie Kabra. The cousins were friends now, all able to look past the prejudices that most of their relatives still clung too, and were trying to enjoy their last full day in London before it was time to go back to their own parts of the world.

"Thank you for explaining," Jonah told the man. It looked like the Janus was holding back a smile, and Sinead resisted the urge to call him out for it. So far, they had managed to get through the week with hardly any arguments.

She might be in love with her boyfriend of almost two years, but that didn't mean that they always got along. In fact, in a lot of ways they were the complete opposite, like now. Jonah was easy-going and a lot more patient than she was. Sinead was just ready to get on this thing and get it over with, since she was sort of being _forced_ into riding.

Her mind flashed back to the conversation they had all had this morning.

" _I don't know. Ferris wheels aren't really my thing," Sinead mentioned casually, then added, "Unless I'm studying the inner mechanisms of one. Then they're fascinating."_

 _Jonah was staring at her like she had just said she secretly loved Justin Bieber, and she saw some of the others exchanging looks also._

" _What?"_

" _You don't want to go and ride it?" Jonah asked._

 _She shrugged. "I'll go with everyone, but I'll probably just watch from the ground."_

 _As her boyfriend's face grew more alarmed, she raised a brow questioningly. "Is that a problem?"_

" _I guess not. It's just…" he hesitated, then glanced down. "I kinda wanted to ride it with you. Don't ya think it would be, I dunno, romantic?"_

' _No', she wanted to say, but didn't. Instead she coughed. "Uh…"_

 _Jonah lifted his head and as his dark brown eyes gazed into hers, she saw the pout in them._

 _Great._

 _Now he would try to convince her to ride it, and maybe even demand an explanation as to why she didn't want to. And the_ _ **last**_ _thing Sinead was going to admit was that she was slightly afraid of Ferris wheels. Talk about embarrassing._

 _It wasn't the height, or even the ride itself. In fact, she couldn't even explain her fear. Sinead could ride the scariest and fastest roller coasters without screaming and though she had never attempted to climb Mt. Everest, she was sure she wouldn't so much as blink an eye if she was suddenly transported to the top of it and was forced to look down._

" _We'll see," she quickly said, hoping that he would drop the subject._

 _No such luck._

 _It wasn't him, but Hamilton who asked, "You aren't scared to ride it are you?"_

 _Now everyone was looking at her, and she thought she saw Ned trying not to grin. Afraid that her brother was about to spill one of her darkest secrets she blurted, "Of course not! And I'll prove it."_

 _That last part wasn't supposed to come out, but the damage was done. Hamilton nodded, Ned let out a cough that suspiciously sounded like a laugh, and Jonah's face brightened_

Now though, staring up again at the looming object, Sinead wondered if she should have just confessed her fear and got the humiliation over with. What if she got on and threw up or something? Or worse, what if it got stuck and they had to stay up there forever, hovering in mid-air?

"Next!" The attendant stated, looking at everyone but Sinead, apparently still miffed.

Madison Holt suddenly exclaimed, "Oh no, I think I left my backpack at the last ride!"

"I can go grab it for you," Sinead volunteered, hope swirling in her chest. But Jonah frowned over at her and grabbed her hand, preventing her from moving.

"Oh, it's okay, I'll go get it."

That came from Reagan, who looked more than happy to leave the line. Sinead didn't blame her.

"But you don't know what it looks like!" her sister argued.

Hamilton let out a sigh as his sisters started fighting it out. "I'll go," he said, and left before they could protest. Both of them exchanged a frown, and then hurried after him.

Sinead gazed longingly after them, only to catch Natalie Kabra's eye. The British girl, along with her brother and Nellie had opted to sit this one out, and they were currently resting on a bench several feet away. Amy and Dan—claiming that they had to use the restroom a few minutes ago but promising they would be back before the ride took off—were nowhere in sight.

Traitors.

That left her triplet brothers, both of whom were gesturing for her to go first. Holding back a sigh, she stepped in, trying not to let on to how her muscles started to tremble.

 _Calm down. Pretend it's an experiment. You have to prove Hamilton and the others wrong, remember? Just think, in ten minutes, it will all be over with._

"This is gonna be great!" Jonah said enthusiastically, squeezing her hand as he followed her into the car.

She managed a smile, then noticed that they were the only two in the gigantic car, and the mechanical door was closing.

"Ned? Ted?"

She caught their auburn hair as it disappeared in the crowd. "Where are they going?" she asked Jonah, annoyed that _everyone_ had decided to ditch them.

He shrugged, but something about his expression didn't seem right to Sinead. It was almost _too_ innocent. Opening her mouth, she decided to confront him, only the car lurched and she tripped.

"Oh my gosh!" she squeaked, grasping Jonah's shirt like it was a lifeline and closing her eyes. Was it happening already? She knew she shouldn't have—

"Sinead. It's okay. The ride's just starting."

Jonah's voice was steady, and she could tell that he was right, but it still took her a second to peep her eyes open.

"Oh."

Clearing her throat, she tried to act normal and looked out as they inched up into the sky. She kept a tight grip on Jonah, but tried to play it off.

"It is sort of romantic isn't it?" she lied, smiling up at him, hoping that he wouldn't hear her pounding heart. Or, maybe he would write it off to passion or something. However, the most 'passionate' thing she wanted to do right now was clobber him.

Her boyfriend grinned down at her, wrapping his arms around her. "It is. I'm so glad you decided to ride. And since everyone else backed out, we have this car all to ourselves."

Sinead smiled a little easier at that. It _was_ sort of nice to be alone with him. Though they had been dating for quite some time, it was mostly long-distance due to Jonah's career, and even this week it had been hard to get time together with everyone else around constantly.

She leaned up to give him a quick kiss, then left his embrace to step closer to the side, telling herself to be courageous.

The car was climbing at a snail's pace, so they weren't that far up yet. Still, the view was already breathtaking. River Thames, one of the United Kingdom's largest rivers, stretched out below them, and the way the water was reflecting the animated sky—a vivid mixture of purples, pinks, and blues from the setting sun—was stunning.

As the car crept even higher over the London skyline, Sinead felt herself starting to relax.

 _This isn't so bad,_ she thought, watching Jonah cross to the other side of the car to lift up the window. A breeze trickled in instantly, shifting her hair slightly from where it fell over her shoulders. _It actually is really relaxing._

Still, she knew she would feel better once her feet were planted on solid ground again.

"Hey c'mere," Jonah turned and called over his shoulder, "You can see Big Ben from this side; and the Buckingham Palace."

Sinead slowly walked over, not wanting to trip again, but made it over without losing her balance. The car was smooth, but she wasn't going to take any chances.

"Wow," she said sincerely, her eyes scanning over the landmarks.

"I know. Isn't it great?"

She was about to agree, but then, just as they reached the highest point on the wheel, the car lurched, almost like it had when it had taken off. Only this time, it didn't move.

They were stuck.

—

Ten pairs of eyes watched this take place. Unbeknown to Sinead, Jonah had planted a hi-tech video camera on the side of the car as he had opened the window. To her, it would look like part of the interior. To the other Cahill cousins, it was a spying device, as the video was currently playing live on Ned's laptop.

"Sinead doesn't look too happy," Nellie pointed out.

"She doesn't," Ted agreed, eyeing the extra paleness of his sister's face. "I feel like this is about to go very, very wrong."

They all exchanged grimaces, but then their eyes drifted back to the screen. Whichever way 'this' went, they weren't about to miss it for anything.

—

" _Why_ aren't we moving?!" Sinead finally sputtered, trying to curb her panic.

"I'm sure it's nothing." Jonah waved his hand and then tried to draw her back to the side, several feet away from the window he had opened. He reached his other hand to open the other window, but Sinead halted him.

"What are you doing? Are you trying to signal the operator or something? Good thinking," she praised.

She would have moved to assist him, but her feet were glued to the floor, and she felt like everything was spinning.

 _Don't think about it. Don't think about being trapped up here all night, stuck, hovering about thousands of people with no way down—stop it Sinead!_

"No…" Jonah threw her a concerned look. "I was going to let more of the breeze in. Plus, since we're so high up and can't do anything about being stuck, I figured we could watch the sun go—"

"Can't do anything?" Sinead echoed.

He didn't mean anything by it of course, but his calm demeanor—a demeanor that she herself normally possessed—was annoying.

Trying to keep the edge _and_ panic out of her voice, she said, "We can try to do something! We're _stuck_."

"Babe, I'm sure this gets stuck all the time—"

She cut him off again, "It's the London Eye! I'm pretty sure this _never_ happens. What if something is going on in the mechanisms of this—this—this— _contraption_?!" she finally blurted. "What if the architecture isn't what that pug-faced idiot down there said it was? What if—"

But it was her boyfriend's turn to cut her off, his patient expression growing just as annoyed as she felt. "Sinead. Be practical about this. It isn't like we're gonna collapse or anything. In fact..." he droned on, but all she heard was the word 'collapse'.

Sinead fell silent as he pulled her up against him, still talking, and started pointing out how nice the sunset was. And the reason behind her silence was: she was thinking.

 _Practical. He's right, I need to channel my panic into planning. I think I have some rope in my backpack. I might have a hook too. If I could make some sort of harness…_

—

Jonah fell silent, waiting for his girlfriend's answer. He had no clue why she was so annoyed about the car stopping—she _liked_ heights. She had told him that before, which is what gave him this idea in the first place.

"Uh, I'm sorry, what?" she asked.

Frustration boiled in him, but he tried to push it down. "I asked you where you see us in a year from now."

"Hopefully down from this awful ride," she stated, then suddenly leaned out the car window. Afraid that she was about to make a hand motion and spoil the entire thing, Jonah grabbed her arm and pushed it down.

Sinead threw him a dirty look, but only said, "I have an idea. I think I brought some tools in my backpack that can get us down from here. Here, hold it while I try to see if I have a hook…"

Jonah did so, but inwardly was starting to panic. How was he possibly going to pull it off now?

—

Madison was laughing so hard she was almost crying. Natalie however, looked like she actually _was_ going to cry.

"Oh she is ruining the entire thing!" the dark-haired girl moaned, looking helplessly at her brother. Ian looked perturbed too, but only shrugged.

Amy bit her lip. "I wish there was something to do to help him out. Sinead looks like she is about to have a meltdown; Jonah too."

Ned was the next one to speak, the humor of it hitting him. "This is great. I can't wait to show everyone in the family this video later."

Natalie shot him a glare so he shut up, but to himself, he was thinking, _that will show her. Next time maybe she won't be so swift to share_ _ **my**_ _most embarrassing moment in the world with everyone._

—

Over 400 feet above them, Sinead's panic was starting to be reduced as she methodically pulled out the last item. Her brain was fully kicked into Ekat mode, and she was relieved to find the things she needed in her pack. Now, all she had to do was assemble them.

"Seriously?" Jonah's voice broke into her concentration. "You're trying to make a bungee thing? Why don't you give it some time before ya start resorting to drastic measures?"

He didn't get it.

Not even sparing him a glance, she got to her feet and peered out the window, attempting to measure the distance from the car to the steel framework of the Ferris wheel. It would be a stretch—no pun intended—but she thought it would end up being perfect.

Turning back to him, she said, "Just let me do my thing okay? Maybe we can do something romantic later, like sneak out a have a date. I'll even let you pick the place."

It didn't seem to appease him. His furrowed brow turned into an almost scowl and he groaned. "Why are you being like this? It isn't even that major of a deal!"

She stiffened, but only said shortly, "Maybe not to _you_."

"Of course it's a big deal to me!" Now the edge could definitely be heard in his voice. "It's a big deal because there is _nothing_ wrong!"

Sinead frowned, but argued, "Yes there _is._ And how would you know any—

"Because _I'm_ the one who rigged this whole thing up, okay? _I'm_ one who told them to stop the ride!"

Sinead halted at the words, then put her hands on her hips, cocking her head at him. "Wait, you did? Why in the world would you—?"

"Because I'm trying to _propose to you_ Sinead! As in 'will you marry me'? As in 'I think we should be together for the rest of our lives'!"

The words crackled in the air above them, like a firecracker that hadn't fully exploded yet. Sinead tried to swallow but couldn't. It felt like she had devoured five pounds of cotton. In fact, she could barely _breathe._

 _He's trying to do_ _ **what**_ _?_

Dazed, she watched him fumble in his pocket, then thrust an object towards her.

A black velvet box.

 _A ring. He's serious. He wants to_ _ **marry**_ _me._

A smile started to form on her face as her brain comprehended this, sending her heart into a whirlwind of bubbling emotions. In fact, she was so thrilled that her panic completely subsided, dissolving into excitement that Jonah _finally_ was asking the question she thought he would never ask. He didn't seem to notice though as he started talking again, frustration heavy in his tone.

"I thought it would be romantic up here with the view and the sunset and all, plus I figured you would be expecting something really creative, but I guess it turned into anything _but_ that." His face fell even further, and he wouldn't look her quite in the eye as he added, "Look, let's just forget it and get down from—"

" _Yes_!"

She couldn't hold it in anymore, the grin fully erupting now, and she barely managed to hold back her squeal. Meeting his eyes—which were now bulging with surprise and confusion—she said in a voice just above a whisper, "I'll marry you Jonah."

He blinked once, then gave her a tentative grin in return. Then, he cleared his throat and mumbled, "Wait, let's back up. I'm doing this part right at least."

She watched as he got down on one knee in front of her, and her heart—which she thought couldn't go any faster—starting racing as fast as a freight train. And even though she knew what was coming, her stomach dropped as he started speaking.

"Sinead Starling," he began, his eyes boring into hers as he reached his free hand to hold one of hers. "You're my _world_ and over the last two years you've made me happier than I ever thought was possible. I don't know how ya do it really. I've got to be the luckiest dude around"—he let out a wink, though his tone was still serious—"and I wanna spend the rest of my life with you, making _you_ as happy as you make me. Sooo…" he trailed, his face returning to its grin. "How 'bout it babe? Will you marry me?"

The words melted her heart. Sure, the speech was on the long side and was a bit exaggerated ( _she_ was the lucky one), but that was just him.

"Yes I will," she promised for what seemed like the umpteenth time.

He quickly slid the ring on her finger, and she glanced down without really looking at it, still feeling slightly dazed, like this wasn't really happening. And to her, it didn't matter what the ring looked like anyways.

"Thank you," he breathed out as he stood to his feet. "I love you."

Then he leaned in and kissed her, as if sealing the promise, and she responded by taking his face in her hands and drawing him closer to her.

 _We're engaged. I'm going to marry him._

The only thing that brought her out of the moment was the sound of loud whoops and cheers coming from around them. Looking over, she caught the excited faces of the other Ferris wheel passengers as they clapped and 'aww-ed', their windows wide open. Then she looked down and saw the tiny figures of her brothers and cousins below—some of whom appeared to be jumping up and down.

Laughter bubbled up in her and she turned back to Jonah, letting the feeling consume her.

He laughed too, then threw a signal out the window, and a couple of seconds later they were moving towards the ground. Sinead couldn't help it, she drew him into a hug as they descended, resting her cheek on the soft flannel of his jacket.

"That was the perfect proposal," she stated. "I'm sorry for almost ruining it though."

She could hear the grin in his voice as he answered, "Yo it's okay. I'm just relieved you said yes after all of that. And just think, we'll have a great story to tell our grandkids one day."

Warmth pooled in her— _"Our grandkids."_

She liked the sound of that. It was like he was making another promise to her, that they really _would_ be together for the rest of their lives.

Raising her eyes to meet his, still snuggled in his arms, she could only think of one tiny, one-word expression to respond with, but to her, it summed everything up quite nicely.

"Word."

* * *

 **Yeah. I don't know where that came from. *sweats***

 **Anyways, the challenge! (If anyone is interested) I was trying to think of a story idea and thought that a Jonead 'proposal gone wrong' fic would be hilarious (I've been watching too many 'fail' videos on YouTube haha). Then, I was almost tempted to make it a Natan story instead. (Think of the freak-out Natalie would have had on poor Dan xD) Then I had the idea of other writers—in their own way and style—writing about their OTP and a marriage proposal fail. Anyways, there aren't any official 'rules' to this challenge, but I would LOVE to read other 39 clue FF authors attempts of a similar story! Soooooo if you're intrigued, don't just sit there, start writing about your favorite 39 Clues couple and their 'catastrophe'!**


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